First Encounter
by chloeejane
Summary: What if the Salvatore Brothers were too late? What if Elijah had successfully taken Elena? *AU of 2x08*


Elijah was curious as to what information Rose had that could possibly give her the courage to contact him after running from him for so long. When she asked him to meet her at an abandoned house that, he realized wasn't all too far away from Mystic Falls, it suddenly clicked in his mind. _Katerina._ His thoughts lingered, momentarily on the past, on a sweet peasant girl that had died 500 years ago. He quickly banished those thoughts and agreed to meet her and _her pet _at the designated place.

He drove up to the house taking in its old, decrepit looks. The vampire figured that the house hadn't been occupied by anyone for a long time.

As Elijah walked up to the door, he could hear voices from the inside arguing. They knew he was there and he could tell by the snippets of conversation that they were afraid. He had to admit he enjoyed their fear; it was rightfully placed. He opened the door and walked through the entrance looking around the large entry way that he supposed would have been beautiful under different circumstances. His thoughts were interrupted as Rose came down the hallway and out into the room he stood in.

"Rose Marie," she'd cut her hair since he'd last seen her. That, of course, had been over five centuries ago. "Is there somewhere we can talk?" He asks, his voice masked into one of politeness.

He follows her into a small sitting room off to the side of the entry way as she apologizes for the state of the house. "Oh, what's a little dirt? Completely understandable." He assures her as he makes his way over to the fireplace on the fair side of the room. "So tell me, what gives you the courage to call me?"

"I wanted my freedom," she explains, "I'm tired of running. Are you in a position to grant me that?" She asks. He's surprised by how steady she manages to keep her voice in spite of her obvious fear.

"I have complete authority to grant pardon to you and your little _pet_, what is his name these days- Trevor?," he spits out the name as if it offends him, it does. "If I so see fit." He tells her, waiting to see if whatever she has to offer him is actually worth it.

"Katerina Petrova." _And there it is._ Elijah turns around, curiosity present upon his features. "I'm listening," he sits down in the chair beside him waiting for an explanation. His curiosity only increases as she continues. She tells him about how she had not died in the church fire as originally thought. _Leave it to Katerina to make it out alive once again, _he mused to himself silently. Rose seems taken back by his obvious unsurprised expression.

"Oh, well when you called and invited me into this armpit of civilization, which is a mere three hours from the town we know as Mystic Falls, I surmised it had everything to do with Katerina." He goes on to explain, as if it was obvious all along. "Do you have her in your possession?"

To her credit, she hardly blanches at his explanation, quickly moving on to answering his question. "No, but I have better," _What exactly could be better,_ he thinks to himself. "I have her doppelganger." Well there's a plot twist he hadn't seen coming.

* * *

His first instinct is to deny it. "That's impossible. Her family line ended with her, I know that for a fact." At least he thought he had. Rose is quick to tell him otherwise. He demands to see her, but she pauses. "Elijah, you're a man of honor – you're to be trusted, but I want to hear you say it again." Ah, her freedom.

One of the many things he had learned over the years was how to use words to manipulate a situation. How to agree to something without actually agreeing to it. "You have my word that I will pardon _you_." The tension she had been carrying around seemed lifted as she walked him out of the room and down a hallway.

They stepped out into, what he would have guessed, to be an old ballroom of sorts. His attention, though, was on the young girl standing in the middle of the room. He was positioned on the balcony, completely still, as he took her in. Her resemblance to her predecessor was uncanny and he almost mistook her for Katerina for a moment. _Almost._

Blurring down the steps, he appeared right in front of her. She sucked in a quick breath, obviously startled.

He took a step closer, leaning down to the side of her neck, he could smell the fear coming off her, but he also smelled something different. That's what ultimately told Elijah that the girl standing before him was definitely not Katerina. She had a slightly sweeter, more innocent fragrance to her blood. Which was another thing that proved she was the doppelganger, she was human. The blood flowing through her veins erased any doubts Elijah had about who she was.

He slowly raised his head from the crook of her neck, before he looked down at her frightened face.

"Hello there," his lips curled into a smirk as her saw the slight tremble that went through her. He was going to enjoy this.

* * *

AN: This first chapter is basically just a recap, but the next chapter is where it starts to get interesting. Please leave reviews!


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